Semiconductor device



April 1961 T. w. WILLEMSE 2,981,876

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 19, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 {4 8 14 44 4: (a 11 1s 15 O 16 f6 s 10 -10 y l g 19 2 i 1 5 J & F 1

i a o a W A fii IN V EN TOR. T. W. WIL L E MSE April 25, 1961 "r. w. WILLEMSE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 19, 1954 Ed WILLEMSE R m m m Zwva lei-i8 4 AGEN April 25, 1961 T. w. WILLEMSE 2,981,876

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 19, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. I U. WILL EMSE BY 2,981,876 SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE Theo -Willem Willemse, Eindhoven, Netherlands, assignor,

by mesne assignments, to North American Philips Company, Inc., New York, N .Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application Oct. 19, 1954, Ser. No. 463,271,

now Patent No. 2,825,014, dated Feb. 25, 1958.v Divided and this application Feb. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 715,649

Claims priority, application Netherlands Nov. 30, 1953 v 6 Claims. (Cl. 317-235) 1 The invention relates to an electrode'system comprising a semi-conductive body, more particularly a crystal diode or atransistor, this body being secured to a supporting plate, for example by soldering. It is known to incorporate such an electrode system in a housing, the supporting plate being soldered tothe inner side of the wall of the housing.

Thus the heat produced by the electric current in the system is satisfactorily conducted away, i.e. through the supporting plate to the housing and the surroundings.

The invention has for its object inter alia to provide a simple assembling of such a system. Moreover, 'by carrying out the invention adverse reaction of the solder and-the. associated flux on the semi-conductive body can be avoided substantially completely. The inventionfurthermore permits of arranging the electrode system so as to be electrically insulated from the housing.

According to the invention the supporting plate is pressed against. theinner side of. the housing over a surface which exceeds the. surface part of 'the supporting plate covered by the electrode system. This is to be understood to mean that the surface pressed tight is at least. five times larger than the part covered by the electrode system.

Since thesupporting plate is pressed against the housing the assembling. may be materially simplified. The

electrode systemwith the supporting plate can be finished and then secured in the housing by simple means. It is to be regarded as an advantage that there is very little chance of affecting the system adversely by detrimental substances or vapours, to which these systems are very sensitive.

Between the inner wall of the housing and the supporting plate provision may be made of an insulating layer, whichincreases the heat resistance only little and yet permits an electrically insulated arrangement of; the system in a simple manner.

In a preferred embodiment the housing is shaped in the form of a box with a lid, the supporting plate being pinched between these parts. In an alternative embodiment the housing has the shape of a tube, to the inner wall of which the supporting plate is pressed. In this case the supporting plate is urged against the housing preferably by its own spring force, or by a resilient body, for example arubber plug arrangedon the inner side of the supporting plate. i

-The invention will now be described more fully with reference to a few embodiments, illustrated in the figures. The figures are drawn on an exaggerated scale.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a housing in which a transistor is mounted.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a supporting plate.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the supporting plate with the transistor shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a tubular housing with a transistor.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V--V of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view of a tubular diode.

Referring to Fig. 1 reference numeral 1 designates the semi-conductive body, for example a germanium crystal of the n-conductivity type. bottom side are melted down an emitter 2 and the collector 3 respectively, which may for example be made, of indium. The semi-conductive body is soldered at the.

bottom at 4 to a supporting plate 5, whichmust have approximately the same expansion coefiicient as. the semi.- conductive body. To this end an alloy of 54% of iron,

29% of nickel. and 17% of cobalt, known under the name of Fernico may be used.

On the supporting plate bears a resilient ring 6, which may be made for example from natural rubber or syn: thetic rubber. The ring is. pressed tight by a gland7,

which is also annular at the bottom. and hasfour exten sions 8 at the top, these extensions risingsoto say up from the ring.

The assembly is arranged in a housing, constituted by a box 10 and a lid 11. The lid supports a plurality of through-connection insulators, constituted by metal rings 12, in which a glass bead 13 and a through-connection wire 14 are sealed. The lid is provided at the periphery with a ridge 15, by means of which it is welded hermetically to an edge 16 of the box 10. The lid urges the supporting plate 5 by means of the extensions 8 of the gland 7 and the ring 6 tightly against the bottom 17 of. the housing 10.

By means of conductors 13 the parts 1, 2 and 3 of the transistor are connected to the through-connections 14. The connection to the body 1 is established through the supporting plate 5 and a soldering joint 19.

On the inner wall of the box 10 is provided an insulating layer 20. This prevents the supporting plates and the semi-conductive body 1 from being in contact with the housing. ple be made. of lacquer or of a foil of insulating material, for example cellulose tri-acetate. The insulating .layer is prolonged along the side wall of the. box in order to provide a longer creeping path. The assembly of the various parts. may be performed in the simplest manner by putting the lid 11, provided with the insulators, with its inner side turned up and by puttingthereon the gland 7, the ring 6 and the supporting plate 5 with they transistor. The supporting plate with the transistor may be previously cleaned by etching and, if necessary, be provided with a protecting layer. The conductors 18 may then be Welded to the through-connections 14. The

box- 10 is then slipped over this assembly; the box is then soldered at 15 to the lid. Finally, the box can be.

tem is constituted by a transistor, in which a conductor is provided at a collector on the bottom side of the semiconductive body 1. In order to lead this conductor upwards, the semi-conductive body is arranged over an aperture 21 of the supporting plate 5, so that the conductor can be led upwards alongside the elongated body (vide Fig. 3). In order to obtain more space below the transistor, the supporting plate 5 may be bent in the centre, as is shown in Fig. 2.

Of course, many variations of the fastening of the transistor or a diode to the supporting plate are possible.

Patented Apr. 25, 1961.

On the top side and on the- This insulating layer may for exam- In order to give an impression of the possible size of such a system, it is stated that the semi-conductive body may be 4 x 3 x 0.5 mms.,.while the diameter and the height of the housing may be 30 mms. and 10 mms. respectively.

The housing of the transistor may be secured in various ways to the chassis of an electric apparatus.- To the centre of the bottom 17 a bolt may be welded previously, this bolt being taken through the chassis and held by a nut. As an alternative, the housing may be clamped tight along the periphery for example in an envelope having resilient tags or in an aperture of a chassis plate having resilient tags.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the housing is constituted by a metal tube 31, having a bottom 32 and a lid 33. A transistor comprising a semi-conductive body 1, an emitter 2 and a collector 3, is secured through the intermediary of a Fernico base plate to a tag 35 bent out from a resilient supporting metal plate 36. The supporting plate 36 is shaped in the form of a tube, which is split at 37 (Fig. to form a generally U-shaped body. This supporting plate is pressed into the housing and thus has a satisfactory thermal contact with the housing.

If the transistor should be insulated from the housing,

an insulating layer 20 may be interpositioned.

The periphery of the housing 31 is surrounded tightly by an envelope 38, provided with a plurality of resilient tags 39, by means of which the assembly may be secured in an aperture 40 of a base plate 41, for example a part of a chassis.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the lid does not contribute to the tightening of the supporting plate. It is shown here as a glass disc 33, which is secured by fianging with the aid of a stufiing ring 42 in the top end of the tube 31. The through-connections of the wires 18 are constituted by tubes 44, sealed in the lid 33, the wires being soldered in these tubes. If necessary, an insulating mass 43 may be cast on the lid.

In this construction first the supporting plate 36 must be pressed into the housing, then the lid must be set in place.

Of course, the supporting plate may be pressed into the tubemeans of the lid, in the manner shown for the construction of Figs. 1 and 2. In this case the parts accommodated in the housing may be arranged in the inner side of the lid, for example in the manner shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6.

To the lid 50 is secured a supporting plate 51 in the form of an envelope. In order to avoid tensions in the material during subsequent mounting, this envelope may be provided near the lid with a resilient part, shown in the form of a ridge 52. At 53 the envelope is split. On the inner side of the envelope is provided a crystal diode, constituted by a semi-conductive body and a sealed electrode 55. The latter is connected via a conductor 56 to a through-connecting wire 57, sealed in an insulator 58. In the lid is sealed, moreover, an exhaust tube 59.

After the assembly has been mounted and, if necessary, cleaned, for example by etching, it may be pressed into the housing 60 and the edge of the lid may be welded to the edge of the housing. Then, by means of the exhaust tube 59, the housing may be evacuated or filled with a protecting gas, after which the tube is closed by sealing.

In this diode the semi-conductive body is in direct electric contact with the housing.

If the spring force of the supporting plate is not sufficient in itself to ensure a satisfactory thermal contact with the housing, a resilient body for example a separate metal spring or a rubber plug may be provided inside the supporting plate. In the latter case the pressure may be raised in a simple manner when pressing down the lid, since when the lid urges the plug in an axial direction, the plug will expand in radial direction and thus urge the supporting plate tightly against the housing.

In the embodiments described above, one electrode system is shown in a housing. Of course, as an alternative more than one electrode system may be arranged in one housing. One or more of these systems may be arranged on one supporting plate and, of course, more than one supporting plate may be arranged in one hous- This application is a division of a copending application Serial No. 463,271, filed October 19, 1954, now Patent No. 2,825,014.

What is claimed is:

l. A semi-conductor device comprising a housing, a semi-conductive body, a relatively large heat-dissipating, resilient, metal member coupled to said semi-conductive body, said body and heat-dissipating member being mounted within the housing with the heat-dissipating member being urged by its own resiliency into good heat-exchanging relationship with a wall of the housing over a relatively large surface.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, in which the housing is tubular, and the heat-dissipating member is urged against a side wall of the housing.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the metal member constitutes the base electrode of the device.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the base electrode is a generally plate-like member with a central aperture over which the body is mounted.

5. A transistor comprising a semiconductor body having in contact therewith emitter, collector and base electrodes, said body being housed in an envelope of which at least the major part is metal, and the base electrode being constituted by a relatively massive metallic member to which the semiconductor body is intimately connected over an appreciable area and part of which bears resiliently over an appreciable area against the internal surface of a metallic part of the envelope.

6. A transistor according to claim 5, in which the main part of the envelope is constituted by a metal cap in the open end of which is sealed a support on which the base electrode is mounted, the base electrode being in the general form of a channel member of U-shaped cross-section of such a size that when the base electrode is inserted into the cap the arms of the base electrode are pushed inwards so that they bear resiliently on the internal surface of the cap. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,545,863 Sell et a1. Mar. 20, 1951 2,665,399 Lingel Jan. 5, 1954 2,712,620 Marlet July 5, 1955 2,738,452 Martin Mar. 13, 1956 2,825,014 Willemse Feb. 25, 1958 

